At Boulder's Eaton Park, riders dig for all

Homegrown jumps on the rise at Gunbarrel bike park

Nick Simcik does a backflip at Eaton Park on Tuesday. Simcik is an official volunteer with the city, which has allowed him and a small crew of people to maintain the dirt-jump park.
(
MARTY CAIVANO
)

When Jerad Fischer started digging to build jumps at Eaton Park, he was shoveling on his knees.

"I shattered my ankle 18 months ago, and I haven't been able to get out on a bike, so I started going out there, because digging was my hobby," said Fischer, 31.

Fischer is part of a passionate crew of local mountain bikers who have been revamping and improving the dirt jumps at Eaton Park, in Gunbarrel. (The riders simply call it "Gunbarrel.")

Though there have been jumps there for years, the digging gained speed in the fall. It all started with a web search by Kevin Rauhauser, a CU student who grew up in Boulder and learned to ride in Gunbarrel.

Jarad Fischer works on the lip of a seven-foot hip jump at Eaton Park on Tuesday. Fischer is an official volunteer with the city, which has allowed him and a small crew of people to maintain the dirt-jump park.
(
MARTY CAIVANO
)

"There's been a lot of talk out there for a while about getting a hose, because we'd seen the connection, so we knew there was water," Rauhauser said. (Water is essential for hardening the dirt into jumps.) "I was out there this summer and figured, why don't we just ask the city?"

Rauhauser left a comment at the Parks and Rec website and received a reply immediately -- he could have access to the water, he just had to fill out a form to adopt the park. He did, and they were wetting jumps by hose by October.

Next, friends offered some heavier equipment for pushing dirt around, so he asked the city if they could open a gate to roll a Bobcat into the park.

"We figured since they were so enthusiastic about letting us use a hose, maybe they'd let us use a Bobcat," he said.

The city couldn't allow that, so instead they sent their own backhoe with a driver twice in December. Rauhauser couldn't believe it.

"I never expected it to get this big," he said. "I was just getting tired of hauling buckets."

Pro downhiller Brian Buell -- who was ripping through the rollers at Eaton under the midday sun Tuesday -- said started riding there when he started dirt jumping, in 2004. It has changed completely since then, Buell said.

"Before, it was just this dedicated group of riders, like Jerad over there," he nodded to Fischer, who was toting a shovel nearby, "and a few buds that would come in with shovels," Buell said. "They'd go to the lake, get a few buckets of water, build themselves some jumps."

"Now, it's an actual community of riders working with the city. It's getting to be more refined and well-thought out."

Unlike the Valmont Bike Park, which is completely engineered, and where all trails and features are constructed by a contractor, Eaton Park is a volunteer-maintained bike park, which is more traditional for a bike park, said Lisa Martin, urban parks manager for the City of Boulder Parks and Recreation Department. Fischer, Rauhauser and pro rider Nick Simcik are official volunteers.

"They've adopted that bike park and take care of it," Martin said. "It's similar to our other volunteer programs, like adopt a flower bed, or adopt a disc-golf course."

The riders are building big jumps, but they're also building beginner and intermediate lines, so people can learn and improve there.

"It's something we all do just because we love the sport and want to see it grow and get more little kids into it," said Simcik, of Boulder.

Simcik added that the jumps in Eaton offer something different to both the community and visitors. While the Valmont Bike Park will have cyclocross and slopestyle courses, Gunbarrel is just dirt jumps. (Fischer: "We haven't gotten around to the pump track yet.")

"We know that Valmont is going to be a huge draw to Boulder, but what we're hoping is that both parks have a hugely positive impact on Boulder," Simcik said.

Fischer is hopeful that his work in Gunbarrel will eventually qualify him for a job on the maintenance crew at the Valmont Bike Park -- especially because he's out of work right now because of his accident, which happened while filming a bike movie on a friend's backyard jumps.

"I was on the couch for 8 months," he said. "It was tough, I lost my job. I have a two-and-a-half year-old little boy."

(Simcik: "Just going out to dig, it's almost like therapy for him.")

Now, Fischer goes out to dig nearly every day, even though he still uses a cane and might have to have his leg amputated in the coming weeks. But it feels good to be out there doing something for the community, he said.

This communitarian attitude prevails at the park.

"There's a slogan, 'no dig no ride,'" Simcik said. "That's not something we embody at our park -- it's not our park, it's a city park."

"We want everybody who comes out there to feel welcome. If they have questions or need tips with riding, we're happy to help. And if they want to come out and help us move dirt, that's awesome, but no one should feel obligated to come out and move dirt before they can ride their bike."

Jarad Fischer works on the lip of a seven-foot hip jump at Eaton Park on Tuesday. Fischer is an official volunteer with the city, which has allowed him and a small crew of people to maintain the dirt-jump park.
(
MARTY CAIVANO
)

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